26 replies to this topic

[Bart]

Gday
Just was enquiring about the Henrob, I was quoted $999 for the welding kit, tips etc, full face mask, and European regulators etc and deliver to sydney, all brand new of course, is this a reasonable price to pay??
Also any comments on this welder would be great, i want to learn to weld aluminium in particular.
Kind regards
Bart

[arrimar]

ive never heard of a henrob.

are they korean/taiwanese?

it must be ac output for aluminium.

[V-SLR5000-P]

Henrob has also been sold under the Dillon brand in the past. These units occasionally come up on EBay way less than the new price you have been quoted. The biggest difference between the Henrob and a typical oxy like a CIG Comet is in the low pressure regulators which come with the Henrob. With MIG welders now so popular an oxy can be picked up for virtually nothing. Aluminium can be welded with an oxy unit and l would not be in a hurry to by a new Henrob at that price. l believe that regulators can be modified for low pressure operation which will give performance like a Henrob, but you will then need another set of regs for cutting.

[arrimar]

had a look thru google and here is a link to a forum discussing it.
link

[arrimar]

after a quick research i ,as a boilermaker, couldnt see myself ever using one or wanting one.
the 999 dollars would be better spent on a B.O.C inverter and tig set to go with it.
you wont be able to do ally though. that will cost significantly more.

[TerrA LX]

yeah, for that sort of money you can have an oxy and a mig, what more would you need.
p.s. my mig is reverseable so it welds alloy.

[Bart]

I thought of an oxy but was lead to believe the Henrob is superior in welding aluminium.
Ill check out ebay

[Bart]

Henrob has also been sold under the Dillon brand in the past. These units occasionally come up on EBay way less than the new price you have been quoted. The biggest difference between the Henrob and a typical oxy like a CIG Comet is in the low pressure regulators which come with the Henrob. With MIG welders now so popular an oxy can be picked up for virtually nothing. Aluminium can be welded with an oxy unit and l would not be in a hurry to by a new Henrob at that price. l believe that regulators can be modified for low pressure operation which will give performance like a Henrob, but you will then need another set of regs for cutting.

was that with regulators as i believe the regs are expensive

[TerrA LX]

I thought of an oxy but was lead to believe the Henrob is superior in welding aluminium.
Ill check out ebay

yes, it probably would be if you chasing those neat alloy welds, but I'd probably lean towards tig if you got enough jobs to warrant it.
Never used the Henrob and never seen a work shop with one, might be something in that.

[dattoman]

We had a henrob
No-one ever used it cause they didn't know how
Think it went in the bin

[Bart]

I thought of an oxy but was lead to believe the Henrob is superior in welding aluminium.
Ill check out ebay

yes, it probably would be if you chasing those neat alloy welds, but I'd probably lean towards tig if you got enough jobs to warrant it.
Never used the Henrob and never seen a work shop with one, might be something in that.

Panel beaters, vintage car builders, street neat rod and custom love them as they say.
If you check out streetneat you can see them using it.

[V-SLR5000-P]

You could speak to Ken Smith at Weld Service and Sales (Victoria 03 9464 1356) about having standard oxy regulators modified for low pressure operation, or maybe a welding supplier in your state could help.

[arrimar]

i dont understand 'low pressure' regulators?
pressure is adjustable on normal guages.

[Bart]

Low pressure as in 4lbs, im assuming other regulators wont go that low??
Spoke to the guy at streetbeat (i told him about this forum) he said the Henrob is great basically as it causes less warpage in the panel, can weld aluminium very nicley, as good looking as TIG welds and as strong, will do mild steel and stainless, all looking as good as TIG and just as strong. He even welded a cast manifold using a piston ring as a filler. He basically highly recomends it.
Price wise, he suggested around $900 is the going rate with regs, hand piece and tips etc
He recomended using flux on the job and rod in welding cast alloy, and flux just on the job when welding aluminium, the flux is a specific type which can be bought anywhere, but i should ask the seller of this item which type of flux, if i remember rightly flux for aluminium and alloy is different.

Edited by Bart, 07 March 2007 - 08:50 PM.

[arrimar]

normal regulators take up to 3000 pounds (psi) on the inlet and deliver the gas at a rate between 0 and 15 psi for acetylene and 0-80 psi for oxygen.

just trying to help out with your mission. might save a quid.

[Bart]

The real reason im interested is, the TIG are far too expensive, the type that weld aluminium that is. The Henrob is a far cheaper alternative, there are a few things i need to weld, buying a TIG would be overkill for me.

[V-SLR5000-P]

As far as the regulators go, l understand that the Henrob torch operates at a lower pressure and is particularly sensitive to pressure adjustment. My conventional regs may supply gas at the needed pressure of 4 psi, but the adjustment is apparently too coarse for optimal operation of the Henrob torch. l believe the Henrob regs adjust more precisely over a smaller range and that�s the only difference

[Tiny]

Bart: Might it be worth sending the stuff you need to get welded out? For the price of the welder and doign it yourself it might work out more cost effective?

for CAST alloy i'm not so sure ( not a welding expert), but we bought a 220A single phase MIG welder with a second torch set up for aluminium welding. Cost us a bit but we've got a very versatile unit now that will weld most stuff!

Cheers

[Bart]

thanks Tiny, i had my aluminium sump done recently and the price nearly gave me a cardac arrest, im glad i was sitting down when he told me the price, having siad that he did a nice job with welding but i have some concern at where the sump plug is, i may go back to him and get him to fix it.
The regular price for a welder is arounf $70 an hour and i have that fuel tank i started making 3 years ago need to be welded, then theres the bell housing, it will end up over a grand i estimate at $70 an hour, so buying a Henrob would be worth my while, a TIG would be really nice but like i said far too expensive for me.

[Bart]

This discussion here may help you out with a bit of info....

henrob VS tig

Nice info Pete thanks.
I think the greatest incentive for me is the price of the Henrob. Im going to go for it.

[Tiny]

Cool stuff Bart! At least you did your research before you made the decisions mate!

Cheers

[Bart]

thanks Tiny, hows your SLR going? And the mighty Monaro.

[Tiny]

Hey mate! SLR is sitting there..... still No time no money for that one mate!

Monaro is going very well however! Been driving it around a fair amount and it's great! Got lot of other stuff happening at the moment, so i'm not able to give it the finishing touches it deserves!

Cheers mate, Hope to catch you soon! You coming out on the 31/3? Take a look in the events section!

Cheers